Cool - I plan to spend a good amount of time tonight on the calibration process too. I’ll make sure I’m on the latest build before I get started.
One thing I’ll be testing as I go through the process is getting Alarms from the Arduino while the sled is moving between calibration points. I was running into problems last night where the sled would move to the first 3-4 measurement points without issues but around the 5th or 6th point the sled would stop moving all the way to the next point and instead only move a few inches and stop. I suspect it is the slow RPI v3 but don’t know for sure.
Do you have a recommendation for the max feed rate to use during calibration? My system defaulted to 700mm/min. That seemed slow and I tried 1000mm/min but I’m not sure if that was related to the alarms I think I was getting.
The RPi should not cause this. A movement is a single command issued to the Maslow. Once the command is issued to move to a location, the RPi isn’t doing anything except observing. The RPi could cause delays between discrete movements, but not a stop mid-movement.
I have not tried editing this during calibration. I’d be curious to hear about the alarms. There are many kinds, indicating many things. But generally they are hardware related, except for the soft travel limit.
the mega firmware is coded to a max of 700 mm/min. anything higher than that is set to 700 mm/min. In one of the comments, the max is referred to as 800 mm/min, but that is in the same file where it is set as 700. The due is 1000 mm/min in code.
OK, I’ve been trying to calibrate tonight with the MetalMaslow sled. First, the good news is I haven’t had the Alarm issues at all tonight - the sled moves consistently as expected.
However, using Edge Calibration I have run it several times and I don’t seems to be approaching a good state. After each full cycle, I get a warning that the calibration is not accurate (i.e., some of the distances are still >25mm).
I was going to try Precision calibration instead but ran into a problem right away I can’t seem to figure out - it has to do with Set Home.
I manually have jogged the sled to 0,0 before each calibration. I have also zero’d the Z-axis by having the bit just making contact with the board. Then I click “Set Home”.
However, when I went to cut my first hole in Precision calibration, the bit never even reached the work surface. What I discovered is that “Set Home” doesn’t seem to be resetting the Home position. It seems the Z-axis home has been sitting about -4mm so when calibrating it first starts there and then cuts 3mm, still sitting above the board.
I also noticed that the widget that shows current X,Y,Z machine positions never resets to 0,0,0 when pressing Set Home. Should it?
Here is a screenshot immediately after clicking “Set Home”.
@zaneclaes - Question about updates - I have Automatically Check for Updates and Prereleases (Beta Channel) both checked. What else should I do to get the latest build? I am showing 1.1.1 C build #189. Thanks
You should not be setting home. This is why you are not successfully calibrating. Once Define Home is set, you only Set Home if the chains come off the sprockets.
Tip : Once you press “Define Home”, use a sharpie or paint to mark exactly which link of the chain is at the top of each sprocket. If your machine ever comes out of alignment, such as if chains slip or are removed from the sprockets, you will need to return it to this “Home” position. It is important that the chains are exactly in the same position. Do not try to visually move the sled back to the same position . Most users simply mark the chain link which is at the 12 o’clock (noon) position on the sprocket. Once you are certain the chain is in the exact same position, press the “Set Home” button on the main screen and Makerverse will tell the Maslow it is back at this saved location.
When you press “home” you’re telling the Maslow that your chains are in the exact same position (down to the mm) as they were when you did “define home.” You are not saying the sled is in the same position. If you originally defined home at 0,0 but calibration changes settings, your real home will not be 0,0 but the adjusted calibrated value. That’s what you’re seeing when you see new values when you press “set home.” That’s why you need to use chain lengths, NOT a visual inspection, to set home.
To recap:
define home: “I know I am at 0,0”
set home: “I am back at the exact same chain position now as with define home”
Sorry I forget what builds everybody is running. If you’re running the web server, a restart will update automatically (about 300mb download). If you’re running a stand-alone app, you need to download and install from the releases.
OK, I think we could debate the UX of calling the button on the main screen “Set Home” when it is something that should very rarely be needed and is worded so closely to “Define Home” that they appear synonymous. I would also expect to need to “Define Home” much more often than “Set Home” and would then assume “Define Home” is more appropriate on the main screen. I assume this came from the original cncjs project.
Putting that aside, I followed your directions (jogged the sled to what should be 0,0,0), when into Calibrate and clicked “Define Home”. However, the Machine Position readout never resets to 0,0,0. If “Define Home” was working as expected, when I leave Calibrate and press the orange Home button on the Job panel, it should stay exactly where it is, but instead it moves to the old position. The same happens with the Z-axis. I don’t think “Define Home” is doing anything for me.
Spot on. You had me thinking this morning, and I’ve already started fixing this by adding a feature that changes the UI based upon the type of machine you have connected.
“Define Home” renamed to Set Chains
“Set Home” renamed to Reset Chains
You might also notice that the machine position home buttons which do not apply to the Maslow have been removed.
No. If you “Define Home/Set Chains” you need to go through the entire calibration process again. “Se Home/Reset Chains” is how you tell the Maslow that it’s back at a well-known position. Per the documentation:
[Define Home] will also produce a “save point” to return to ( home ) in case the machine ever becomes un-calibrated (such as chains slipping or being removed from the sprockets).
This “Reset Chains” (formerly “Set Home”) is the exact same feature as Web Control, which I used a few times a week (but I have never once re-measured my chains on Web Control).
Hmm, that is odd. Can I please see the output from your console? It’s really hard to debug why any command at all did not work if I can’t see the console.
OK, here is the Console output when clicking Define Home in the Calibrate UI.
>
client> $11=2076
feeder> $H
ok
B08
Left: 2076.00mm
Right: 2076.00mm
position loaded at:
-1.11
0.10
Message: The machine chains have been manually re-calibrated.
ok
client> $3=796
position loaded at:
-1.12
0.10
ok
client> $2=3333
position loaded at:
-1.14
0.10
ok
client> $$
ok
>
And another screenshot showing that machine position doesn’t update after clicking Define Home.
Thanks. I see what happened. When I was working on that “applying settings…” screen, I made a change that accidentally caused the $H command to be run before the changes to the settings. It should have been run after.
Ah, I forgot that the Mega does not set the Z axis to 0 when homed. You can use the command G10 Z0 to manually set the Z axis to zero.
In the next version, you will do it with this button:
